Log cabin construction techniques in western Siskiyou County, 1850-1935 : their function and ethnic origins PublicDeposited

Descriptions

Under the sponsorship of the Klamath National Forest, 25 log cabins
which were built in western Siskiyou County between 1850 and 1937 were located
and studied. First, 11 exterior dimensions of these cabins were selected,
measured and recorded. Then 26 building elements were identified for the
purpose of finding whether there was a relationship between the exterior
attributes of these structures and the occupation of their builders. Four
major builder occupations were identified: (1) placer mining, (2) hardrock
mining, (3) homesteading, and (4) ranching. It was hypothesized that there is
a correlation between these builder occupations and the exterior attributes of
the cabins.
A forward stepwise discriminant analysis was performed on the parametric
variables. None of the 11 variables met the default criteria to enter (i.e.,
F=.15). Hence the null hypothesis that there is a relationship between the
occupation of the builder and the exterior variables of the log cabins was
confirmed. The 26 categorical variables which were used to classify the cabins were
crosstabulated against the occupation of the builders. The results indicated
that only four nominal variables discriminated between the builder occupation
groups. A predictive model for classifying cabins on the basis of these four
variables is presented.
A second hypothesis was proposed to examine the relationship between log
cabin construction elements and the builder's ethnic background. Data
collected on building variables was compared with those ethnic traits
described by other log cabin researchers. From this comparison an index of
ethnic trait compatibility was produced which demonstrated the strength of
relationship between builder's background and cabin construction variables.